The concept of God according to traditional Judeo-Christian-Islamic theism minimally includes the following theses: (i) There is one God; (ii) God is an omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect ...
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The concept of God according to traditional Judeo-Christian-Islamic theism minimally includes the following theses: (i) There is one God; (ii) God is an omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect agent; (iii) God is the creator ex nihilo of the universe and the sustainer of all that exists; and (iv) God is an immaterial substance that is ontologically distinct from the universe. Proponents of alternative concepts of God, such as pantheism, panentheism, religious anti-realism, developmental theism, and religious naturalism, exclude at least one of (i)–(iv). A number of prominent philosophers, theologians, and scientists have expressed sympathy with alternative concepts of the divine. However, voices raised in defense of these concepts tend not to be taken seriously in philosophy of religion. This book aims to shed light on alternative concepts of God and to thoroughly consider their merits and demerits.Less

Alternative Concepts of God : Essays on the Metaphysics of the Divine

Published in print: 2016-01-01

The concept of God according to traditional Judeo-Christian-Islamic theism minimally includes the following theses: (i) There is one God; (ii) God is an omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect agent; (iii) God is the creator ex nihilo of the universe and the sustainer of all that exists; and (iv) God is an immaterial substance that is ontologically distinct from the universe. Proponents of alternative concepts of God, such as pantheism, panentheism, religious anti-realism, developmental theism, and religious naturalism, exclude at least one of (i)–(iv). A number of prominent philosophers, theologians, and scientists have expressed sympathy with alternative concepts of the divine. However, voices raised in defense of these concepts tend not to be taken seriously in philosophy of religion. This book aims to shed light on alternative concepts of God and to thoroughly consider their merits and demerits.

Anselm is the first Christian philosopher to defend a libertarian analysis of created freedom. In doing so he proposes viable answers to perennial questions in the philosophy of religion: If God ...
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Anselm is the first Christian philosopher to defend a libertarian analysis of created freedom. In doing so he proposes viable answers to perennial questions in the philosophy of religion: If God causes everything, does He also cause human choices, including the choice to sin? Can grace and human free will be reconciled? Can free human choices be divinely foreknown? Does divine freedom entail the choice to do other than the best, and to make a different world, or no world at all?Less

Anselm on Freedom

Katherin Rogers

Published in print: 2008-06-19

Anselm is the first Christian philosopher to defend a libertarian analysis of created freedom. In doing so he proposes viable answers to perennial questions in the philosophy of religion: If God causes everything, does He also cause human choices, including the choice to sin? Can grace and human free will be reconciled? Can free human choices be divinely foreknown? Does divine freedom entail the choice to do other than the best, and to make a different world, or no world at all?

Augustine’s Confessions is a masterpiece of world literature. Written by Augustine at the height of his philosophical and rhetorical skills, the Confessions is at once autobiographical, ...
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Augustine’s Confessions is a masterpiece of world literature. Written by Augustine at the height of his philosophical and rhetorical skills, the Confessions is at once autobiographical, philosophical, theological, and psychological. The aim of the eight essays commissioned for the present volume is to provide an examination and discussion of some of the philosophical issues raised by Augustine. What constitutes the happy or blessed life and what is required to achieve it? What role can philosophical perplexity play in the search for truth? What mental discipline is required for conducting the search? How does Augustine depict the acquisition of truth as a vision of God? What problems arise in the attempt to understand minds, both our own and others’? What is the interplay between what reason tells us is right and what we will to do? What are the impediments to an individual’s moral progress? What impediments to that progress are created by the temptations to indulge in such fictions as dramas and dreams? What is the nature of eternity, and how does eternity differ from time? How should Scripture be interpreted, especially the account of creation of the material world in Genesis? Readers who know only a bit about Augustine may think of him simply as a powerful definer and defender of religious orthodoxy, a figure who ranks behind only Jesus and Paul in the development of a distinctively Christian world view. For such readers the intellectual honesty and psychological candour of the Confessions should come as a pleasant surprise.Less

Augustine's Confessions : Philosophy in Autobiography

Published in print: 2014-07-03

Augustine’s Confessions is a masterpiece of world literature. Written by Augustine at the height of his philosophical and rhetorical skills, the Confessions is at once autobiographical, philosophical, theological, and psychological. The aim of the eight essays commissioned for the present volume is to provide an examination and discussion of some of the philosophical issues raised by Augustine. What constitutes the happy or blessed life and what is required to achieve it? What role can philosophical perplexity play in the search for truth? What mental discipline is required for conducting the search? How does Augustine depict the acquisition of truth as a vision of God? What problems arise in the attempt to understand minds, both our own and others’? What is the interplay between what reason tells us is right and what we will to do? What are the impediments to an individual’s moral progress? What impediments to that progress are created by the temptations to indulge in such fictions as dramas and dreams? What is the nature of eternity, and how does eternity differ from time? How should Scripture be interpreted, especially the account of creation of the material world in Genesis? Readers who know only a bit about Augustine may think of him simply as a powerful definer and defender of religious orthodoxy, a figure who ranks behind only Jesus and Paul in the development of a distinctively Christian world view. For such readers the intellectual honesty and psychological candour of the Confessions should come as a pleasant surprise.

In The Philosophy of Philosophy, Timothy Williamson wrote that Peter van Inwagen’s work is among the “liveliest, exactest, and most creative…of the final third of the 20th Century.” This collection ...
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In The Philosophy of Philosophy, Timothy Williamson wrote that Peter van Inwagen’s work is among the “liveliest, exactest, and most creative…of the final third of the 20th Century.” This collection of original essays addresses some of the most important and interesting themes from van Inwagen’s work, with selected replies by van Inwagen himself. It is no accident that the themes of this volume are also some of the most cutting-edge and important topics in philosophy today. The volume contains rigorous, original, but readable essays, by some of the most prominent living philosophers, on free will, the structure of ordinary objects, time travel, the problem of evil, God and evolution, and the nature of philosophical success. As such, it will be appealing to readers with diverse interests, and will be essential reading for those working on free will, relational vs constituent ontologies, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of philosophy.Less

Being, Freedom, and Method : Themes from the Philosophy of Peter van Inwagen

Published in print: 2017-01-05

In The Philosophy of Philosophy, Timothy Williamson wrote that Peter van Inwagen’s work is among the “liveliest, exactest, and most creative…of the final third of the 20th Century.” This collection of original essays addresses some of the most important and interesting themes from van Inwagen’s work, with selected replies by van Inwagen himself. It is no accident that the themes of this volume are also some of the most cutting-edge and important topics in philosophy today. The volume contains rigorous, original, but readable essays, by some of the most prominent living philosophers, on free will, the structure of ordinary objects, time travel, the problem of evil, God and evolution, and the nature of philosophical success. As such, it will be appealing to readers with diverse interests, and will be essential reading for those working on free will, relational vs constituent ontologies, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of philosophy.

Can it be justifiable to commit oneself ‘by faith’ to a religious claim when its truth lacks adequate support from one's total available evidence? After critiquing both Wittgensteinian and Reformed ...
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Can it be justifiable to commit oneself ‘by faith’ to a religious claim when its truth lacks adequate support from one's total available evidence? After critiquing both Wittgensteinian and Reformed epistemologies of religious belief, this book defends a modest fideism that understands theistic commitment as involving ‘doxastic venture’ in the face of evidential ambiguity: practical commitment to propositions held to be true through ‘passional’ causes (causes other than the recognition of evidence of or for their truth). It is argued that the justifiability of religious faith-ventures is ultimately a moral issue — although such ventures can be morally justifiable only if they accord with the proper exercise of our rational epistemic capacities. The book canvasses issues concerning the ethics of belief and doxastic voluntarism. William James's ‘justification of faith’ in The Will to Believe is extended by requiring that justifiable faith-ventures should be morally acceptable both in motivation and content. The book conducts an extended debate between fideists and ‘hard line’ evidentialists, who maintain that religious faith-ventures are never justifiable. It concludes that, although neither fideists nor evidentialists can succeed in establishing their opponents' irrationality, fideism may nevertheless be morally preferable, as a less dogmatic, more self-accepting, even a more loving, position than its evidentialist rival.Less

Believing by Faith : An Essay in the Epistemology and Ethics of Religious Belief

John Bishop

Published in print: 2007-04-12

Can it be justifiable to commit oneself ‘by faith’ to a religious claim when its truth lacks adequate support from one's total available evidence? After critiquing both Wittgensteinian and Reformed epistemologies of religious belief, this book defends a modest fideism that understands theistic commitment as involving ‘doxastic venture’ in the face of evidential ambiguity: practical commitment to propositions held to be true through ‘passional’ causes (causes other than the recognition of evidence of or for their truth). It is argued that the justifiability of religious faith-ventures is ultimately a moral issue — although such ventures can be morally justifiable only if they accord with the proper exercise of our rational epistemic capacities. The book canvasses issues concerning the ethics of belief and doxastic voluntarism. William James's ‘justification of faith’ in The Will to Believe is extended by requiring that justifiable faith-ventures should be morally acceptable both in motivation and content. The book conducts an extended debate between fideists and ‘hard line’ evidentialists, who maintain that religious faith-ventures are never justifiable. It concludes that, although neither fideists nor evidentialists can succeed in establishing their opponents' irrationality, fideism may nevertheless be morally preferable, as a less dogmatic, more self-accepting, even a more loving, position than its evidentialist rival.

This volume contains fourteen original Chapters by philosophers, theologians, and social scientists on challenges to moral and religious belief from disagreement and evolution. Three main questions ...
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This volume contains fourteen original Chapters by philosophers, theologians, and social scientists on challenges to moral and religious belief from disagreement and evolution. Three main questions are addressed: Can one reasonably maintain one’s moral and religious beliefs in the face of interpersonal disagreement with intellectual peers? Does disagreement about morality between a religious belief source, such as a sacred text, and a non-religious belief source, such as a society’s moral intuitions, make it irrational to continue trusting one or both of those belief sources? Should evolutionary accounts of the origins of our moral beliefs and our religious beliefs undermine our confidence in their veracity? This volume places challenges to moral belief side-by-side with challenges to religious belief, sets evolution-based challenges alongside disagreement-based challenges, and includes philosophical perspectives together with theological and social science perspectives, with the aim of cultivating insights and lines of inquiry that are easily missed within a single discipline or when these topics are treated in isolation.Less

Challenges to Moral and Religious Belief : Disagreement and Evolution

Published in print: 2014-05-22

This volume contains fourteen original Chapters by philosophers, theologians, and social scientists on challenges to moral and religious belief from disagreement and evolution. Three main questions are addressed: Can one reasonably maintain one’s moral and religious beliefs in the face of interpersonal disagreement with intellectual peers? Does disagreement about morality between a religious belief source, such as a sacred text, and a non-religious belief source, such as a society’s moral intuitions, make it irrational to continue trusting one or both of those belief sources? Should evolutionary accounts of the origins of our moral beliefs and our religious beliefs undermine our confidence in their veracity? This volume places challenges to moral belief side-by-side with challenges to religious belief, sets evolution-based challenges alongside disagreement-based challenges, and includes philosophical perspectives together with theological and social science perspectives, with the aim of cultivating insights and lines of inquiry that are easily missed within a single discipline or when these topics are treated in isolation.

This book brings together a series of short essays by Chaturvedi Badrinath on diverse topics related to Indian philosophy and thought. Drawing mainly from the Mahabharata, the Upanishads, and the ...
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This book brings together a series of short essays by Chaturvedi Badrinath on diverse topics related to Indian philosophy and thought. Drawing mainly from the Mahabharata, the Upanishads, and the Yoga-vasishtha, Badrinath explores the concept of dharma, central to any understanding of the Indian civilization. The book engages the ordinary reader, who is perhaps unacquainted with formal philosophy, but is in search of meaning in the midst of the pressures of modern life. The moral dilemmas faced by human beings today are not new. In a world increasingly filled with fear, violence, and terrorism, ordinary people seek ways in which to order their lives. An understanding of the foundations of human liberty, happiness, self and the other, self-interest, the basis of fear, and a movement towards freedom or moksha are essential to that quest. Badrinath had an entirely original approach to the six darsanas or world views. In the essays, he has rendered the most sophisticated ideas in language that is simple and accessible. His thoughts were crystallized over a life spent in deep reflection and engagement with Eastern and Western philosophies. In his writing, the most ancient philosophy is shown to have immediate relevance to modern times.Less

Chaturvedi Badrinath : Unity of Life and Other Essays

Published in print: 2016-01-28

This book brings together a series of short essays by Chaturvedi Badrinath on diverse topics related to Indian philosophy and thought. Drawing mainly from the Mahabharata, the Upanishads, and the Yoga-vasishtha, Badrinath explores the concept of dharma, central to any understanding of the Indian civilization. The book engages the ordinary reader, who is perhaps unacquainted with formal philosophy, but is in search of meaning in the midst of the pressures of modern life. The moral dilemmas faced by human beings today are not new. In a world increasingly filled with fear, violence, and terrorism, ordinary people seek ways in which to order their lives. An understanding of the foundations of human liberty, happiness, self and the other, self-interest, the basis of fear, and a movement towards freedom or moksha are essential to that quest. Badrinath had an entirely original approach to the six darsanas or world views. In the essays, he has rendered the most sophisticated ideas in language that is simple and accessible. His thoughts were crystallized over a life spent in deep reflection and engagement with Eastern and Western philosophies. In his writing, the most ancient philosophy is shown to have immediate relevance to modern times.

This book is about what it is for there to be a God, and what reason there is to suppose that God to be the traditional Christian God. Part 1 (Chs.1 to 5) analyses the metaphysical categories needed ...
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This book is about what it is for there to be a God, and what reason there is to suppose that God to be the traditional Christian God. Part 1 (Chs.1 to 5) analyses the metaphysical categories needed for this purpose – substance, cause, time, and necessity. Part 2 (Ch. 6 to 10) begins by setting out some of the different ways in which the doctrine that there is a divine individual (an individual with the traditional divine properties) can be developed. There can be more than one divine individual so long as a first such individual is necessarily the cause of the existence of the others. Given the supreme moral goodness of cooperating with one individual in sharing everything with a third individual, it follows that if there is one divine individual, there will be three and only three such individuals; hence the necessity of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity – that there is one God consisting of three divine persons. One of these persons may choose to become incarnate, i.e. human, and there are reasons why he would do so.Less

The Christian God

Richard Swinburne

Published in print: 1994-10-06

This book is about what it is for there to be a God, and what reason there is to suppose that God to be the traditional Christian God. Part 1 (Chs.1 to 5) analyses the metaphysical categories needed for this purpose – substance, cause, time, and necessity. Part 2 (Ch. 6 to 10) begins by setting out some of the different ways in which the doctrine that there is a divine individual (an individual with the traditional divine properties) can be developed. There can be more than one divine individual so long as a first such individual is necessarily the cause of the existence of the others. Given the supreme moral goodness of cooperating with one individual in sharing everything with a third individual, it follows that if there is one divine individual, there will be three and only three such individuals; hence the necessity of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity – that there is one God consisting of three divine persons. One of these persons may choose to become incarnate, i.e. human, and there are reasons why he would do so.

Investigates whether the claim that there is a God can be spelt out in a coherent way. Part 1 analyses how we can show some claim to be coherent or incoherent. God is supposed to be a personal being, ...
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Investigates whether the claim that there is a God can be spelt out in a coherent way. Part 1 analyses how we can show some claim to be coherent or incoherent. God is supposed to be a personal being, omnipresent, perfectly free and creator of the universe, omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good, a source of moral obligation, and eternal. Part 2 analyses how these divine properties can be understood in a coherent and mutually consistent way. Part 3 considers divine necessity and claims that God's existence necessarily must be understood as this being the ultimate brute fact on which all else depends, but his having the divine properties necessarily must be understood as his having these properties being logically necessary for his existence. The final chapter argues that, if a God of the kind analysed in earlier chapters exists, he is worthy of worship.Less

The Coherence of Theism

Richard Swinburne

Published in print: 1993-03-11

Investigates whether the claim that there is a God can be spelt out in a coherent way. Part 1 analyses how we can show some claim to be coherent or incoherent. God is supposed to be a personal being, omnipresent, perfectly free and creator of the universe, omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good, a source of moral obligation, and eternal. Part 2 analyses how these divine properties can be understood in a coherent and mutually consistent way. Part 3 considers divine necessity and claims that God's existence necessarily must be understood as this being the ultimate brute fact on which all else depends, but his having the divine properties necessarily must be understood as his having these properties being logically necessary for his existence. The final chapter argues that, if a God of the kind analysed in earlier chapters exists, he is worthy of worship.

This book investigates on which understandings of the nature of God, it is coherent to hold, that is it is metaphysically possible, that God exists. Part I analyses what it is for a proposition to be ...
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This book investigates on which understandings of the nature of God, it is coherent to hold, that is it is metaphysically possible, that God exists. Part I analyses what it is for a proposition to be metaphysically possible, and shows how this normally reduces it to being logically possible; and then analyses how we can show a proposition to be logically possible. Part II analyses what it is for God to be a person, omnipresent, perfectly free, creator of the universe, omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good, and eternal. It claims that it is metaphysically possible that there exists a being with all these properties—given certain definitions of ‘omniscient’ and eternal’. Part III considers whether that being could have these properties essentially, and exist (in some sense) necessarily; and argues that this is possible only if some of the predicates discussed in Part II are understood in analogical senses.Less

The Coherence of Theism : Second Edition

Richard Swinburne

Published in print: 2016-05-01

This book investigates on which understandings of the nature of God, it is coherent to hold, that is it is metaphysically possible, that God exists. Part I analyses what it is for a proposition to be metaphysically possible, and shows how this normally reduces it to being logically possible; and then analyses how we can show a proposition to be logically possible. Part II analyses what it is for God to be a person, omnipresent, perfectly free, creator of the universe, omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good, and eternal. It claims that it is metaphysically possible that there exists a being with all these properties—given certain definitions of ‘omniscient’ and eternal’. Part III considers whether that being could have these properties essentially, and exist (in some sense) necessarily; and argues that this is possible only if some of the predicates discussed in Part II are understood in analogical senses.

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